Spindle moistener



Dec. 1, 1953 J. D. RusT 2,660,850

SPINDLE MOISTENER Filed April 25, 1950 12 11 John Rus,

ATTOR N EY.

Patented Dec. l, 1953 UNITED `lS 'I'.11.'.fI`,'IE.S.v PA iOFFIC-E 7743660350 .SPINDLE MOISTENER `John`D. Rus't, Pine Bluff, Ark. .Amplicationfprilf 1951!,1SerialNo. .158,039

( Cl. *SB- 41) liClaims. 1

The 'special object of .this .inve'ntfion ;is to provie a simple, inexpensive .and .effective device 'for fmo'isten'ing cotton fpicker'spin'dles. My :new .moistener consists ,prima'rily .o'f a Vertical series iof .rub'ber fiipper elements. .The .metal .frame which carr'ies the ii'pper elements .is located Ein a .'s'tationary position .and the fiippers `are .held Aat 'such an angle that .they yare fsu'bsta-ntially paralilel with the 'spindles .A .live .resil'ient rubber of suitable lthickness lis .used 'for the iippers .and the rapid passing of the lspindles 'between the .Iippers ,causes ra rapid vibration or 'fiipping lof 'the edges of therubbers .so that .any surplus liquidis generated .into a'iineni'ist. Thisresults in an even distribution of the .liquid -to all the .spindles.

VI have ,found 'that by :adding a .second .series of ,fiippers spaced from the I`first .series .a distanc'e suflicient to enable the Vsp'iniilles to.,1ear 'the first 'series lbefore engaging the second series, the process ;is 'improved `'herefore "in ,practice I .am using two Vertical .series of .fl'ippers ,positioned intandem.

LWith my present device it is ,possible and `des'irable to feed 'the liquid .directly on'to lthe spindles lprior .to their engagement with 'the iiippers. The l'iqu'id is fed 'by .gravi'ty through suitably .located nozles directly 'on'to 'the .sp'ndles However, I Ado not wish to be limited 'to 'this ,particular .method -of ;feeding .the liquid .onto the spindles. Various .means of applying mo'sture to the .spindles could be used before or at the time of contact with the fiippers. The flippers would still fgenerate :a :mist which would 'moisten the spindles eifectively.. I have .shown what appears to be the simplest 'application of the inventi'on. '1

To |the attainment of the afores'aid ob'i'ects and en'ds inven'tion -stil-l -further 'resides in 'the novel details 'of construction, combination, 'and 'arrangement of parts, vall of irfhinh will be 'first fully described in the following detailed description, and will then be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view with parts broken away of so much of a cotton picking unit 'as is necessary to illustrate the application of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale, showing a liquid dispensing unit in relation to a spindle carrying slat, the view being taken in the direction of the arrow b in Fig. 1.

Eig. -4 is :an enlarged de'tail sectional `View .on the line .44 .of-Eig. L3.

In 'the draw'ing, .in which like numerals of .reference indicate .like -parts in 'all the figures, -l and |a indicate the longitudinalbeams, -and 2., 3, and 4 the -cross beams 'of the .picker `-u-nit frame. 5 designates 'the drive shaft having `sprocket 5a around which vthe lendless conveyor Chains 1l-'li pass. 'IT-he ehains w -also pass between guides 5,, 1,8,and9- J| l designates ;the vspindlesof the vertical'lydisposed spind-le carrying 'slats L2, the A:spind-les .having driving rollers I 3.

All of the foregoing enumerated parts are shown in .my prior JPatent 2,085,046, of -June :29, 1931, and .are well known and, 1per se, consti-tute .no part of the fpresen-tinvention.

The longi-tud-inal :beam :la has detachably secured thereto by suitable 'brackets -or arms, .not shown, supporting plates M to which are zsecured one or :more verticall-y .extending angle -irons L5. The angleirons 15 may .be afiixed to the supporti-ng plates l|'4 -by welding or any other ;suitable means, not shown. The zang'le irons 1-5 have -mounted thereon, preferably by weldi-ng, a pluralityof vertically 'spaced arms 'or lplates 1-6 to which 'are clam-ped ;flat :resi'l-ient zflipping Wiper members 'l-'l ,preferably formed 'of r-ubber, which 'approximately abut "one another, as shown in .Ei-g. 2. A'I1lfle.-ri'1l:ber zflippers ialso z-s'erve .as spindle wipers .and are held von the arm Dla-tes 'L6 by means of clamp plates 1-8 and screws '|9.

'21) designates a 'liquid Suppl'yjpipe which ;is 'connected 'by any 'suitable means, not shown, :to 'the guide -8 'and supported thereby and from which fa :number of vbranches 21., .'22, V23 .extend downwa'rdly .'a-rrd .inwardly 'between rows of yspindl'es Ato -dep'osit 'liquid 'on the zsam'e. VEach :of 'the bramches Vor nozzle Vpipe-s 21., 22,, `23 Ehas .a ;sepa- 'rately 'controlfled valve, .24, 25, :26 respectively, Vthrough 'the ;adiustment 'of `'which the :required 'amount 'of ;liquid is d'eposited `on 'the spind'les. :By depositing the liquid through the medium of a plurality of nozzle pipes instead of through a single pipe over the top of the spindle paths a more equal distribution of the liquid on the spindles is obtained.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the flipper units (composed of the parts |6, |1, |8, 19) extend inwardly from the angle irons |5 toward the endless chain conveyor I 0 and are disposed in the path of the spindles ll and substantially in the Vertical plane of the spindles in order that the entire picking portion of the spindle will pass between adjacent fiippers. In this way there is only one spindle at a time passing between adjacent fiippers IT, with the result that as soon as a spindle passes between adjacent resilient flippers the free edge of the fiippers will flex or snap back, which action causes the greater portion of the liquid which has been wiped from the spindles by the free edge portions of the fiippers to be thrown therefrom into the surrounding area. This flexing of the fiippers and the throwing therefrom of the liquid wiped from the spindles produces a mist through which the spindles pass. When two fiipper devices are used, as shown in Fig. 1, they should be spaced sufficiently apart so that not more than one spindle of a row passes through the flipper device at a time.

I am aware that heretofore structures similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 have been used to wipe spindles, but all such structures of which I have Knowledge have been angled in a direction opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, i. e., at an approximate right-angle to thefspindles so that always more than one spindle is passing through between wiper elements at a time, with the result that the wipers are not caused to snap back and forth as an agitator to produce any mist through which the spindles pass; and consequently such other devices can not effect the results produced by my present arrangement.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it is thought that the construction, operation and advantages of the invention Wiil be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. A spindle moistener for a cotton picking unit comprising a frame having an endless spindle carrying conveyor, means on said frame for delivering liquid to the spindles on said conveyor, a plurality of resilient wiper members detachably mounted on said frame and positioned in the path of said spindles and disposed substantially in the Vertical plane of said spindles when said members and spindles are in engagement, said wiper members engaging said spindles prior to the spindles engaging the cotton, said wiper members upon being fiexed by said spindles flipping the excess liquid therefrom in the form of a mist through which said spindles pass.

2. A spindle moistener for a cotton picking unit comprising a frame having an endless conveyor with a plurality of vertically disposed spindle carrying slats, a nozzle on said frame for delivering liquid to the spindles on said slats, wiping elements positioned in the path of the spindles and adapted to engage said spindles prior to the spindles engaging the cotton, said wiping elements including a support detachably mounted on said frame, a plurality of arms secured to said support, resilient members afiixed to said arms and arranged in approximately abutting relation iwith one another, said resilient members being disposed substantially in the Vertical plane of said spindles when said members and spindles are in engagement, said resilient members engaging the spindles of one slat, upon the movement of said conveyor, for wiping excess liquid from the spindles and flipping from the edge portion of said resilient members the excess liquid to produce a mist prior to said resilient members engaging the spindles on the next succeeding slat.

3.` A, spindle moistener for a cotton picking unit compn'sing a frame having an endless conveyor with a plurality of vertically disposed spindle carrying slats, a liquid supply pipe mounted on said frame, a plurality of spaced nozzles connected to said pipe and positioned in the path of the spindles, wiping elements positioned in the path of the spindles and adapted to engage said spindles prior to the spindles engaging the cotton, said wiping elements including a support detachably mounted on said frame, a plurality of arms secured to said support, resilient members afxed to said arms and arranged in approximately abutting relation with one another, said resilient members being disposed substantially in the Vertical plane of said spindles when said members and spindles are in engagement, said resilient members being fiexed upon engaging the spindles of one slat, upon the movement of said conveyor, for wiping excess liquid from the spindles to produce a mist prior to engaging the spindles on the next succeeding slat.

4. In a cotton picking unit comprising a frame having an endless conveyor with a plurality of vertically disposed spindle carrying slats, a moistener for the spindles including a nozzle mounted on said frame and disposed in the path of the spindle for delivering liquid to said spindles, means positioned in the path of the spindles for engaging and wiping excess liquid from the spindles on one slat before engaging the spindles on the next succeeding slat for producing a mist through which said spindles pass, said means including a support detachably mounted on said frame and having a series of vertically spaced arms through which the spindles pass upon movement of the conveyor, a plurality of resilient fiipping wiper members secured to said arms and disposed in approximately edgel to edge relation for engaging said spindles, said fiipping wiper members being positioned in a plane approximately parallel to the axes of the spindles when said spindles move between said arms.

JOHN D. RUST.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 1,74'7,566 Berry Feb. 18, 1930 1,946,741 Hamme Feb. 13, 1934 2,140,631 Johnston Dec. 20, 1938 2,205,617 Coolidge June 25, 194i) 

